Blind Faith - Blind Faith (1969)

Dan:

After the breakup of the supergroup Cream, Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker formed another supergroup called Blind Faith. Steve Winwood and Rick Grech made it a quartet. Any lover of Cream would try this album without hesitation, which is exactly what I did in when it came out in the U.S.. 

Pairing Winwood and Clapton was a gamble. Would they compete or get in each other's way? The gamble paid off for the classic self-titled album, after which Blind Faith disbanded and all members pursued different career opportunities. 

Blind Faith benefits the most, in my opinion, from the songwriting, singing and keyboards of Winwood. He penned "Had to Cry Today," "Can't Find My Way Home," and "Sea of Joy," arguably the best songs on the album. Clapton contributed "Presence of the Lord," and Baker is credited with the closing jam, "Do What You Like." Thrown into the middle is Buddy Holly's "Well All Right."

Two non-musical issues affect the response to Blind Faith. First, the original cover art pictured an 11-year-old nude girl, which many people (including me) considered offensive. A substitute cover (shown above) was hastily created. Reissues often returned to the original cover, piously masking the girl's breasts with hype stickers.

Second, there's a lot of overt Christianity on display, which might upset people of different faiths. But faith, blind and otherwise, is a common inspiration for music of all sorts, and "the church" has been a crucible for many blues, R&B, jazz, and rock artists. Although a more secular and inclusive set of songs might have been more "politically correct" (not a big issue in those days), I really dig the songs as expressions of faith that are different from mine. Christian music can be sanctimonious and sappy, but it can also be beseeching and heartfelt. John Coltrane's A Love Supreme would be the best evidence I know of to prove my point.

There's much to enjoy on Blind Faith: Clapton's solo on "Presence of the Lord," Grech's violin work on "Sea of Joy," the rhythmic pulse guiding "Had to Cry Today," and so on. The Holly cover and Baker's "Do What You Like" are less remarkable, but they don't diminish the album's overall impact. 

Steve:

Blind Faith is historically interesting in its teaming of multiple high-profile members in the considerable talent pool of the early British progressive rock scene. I agree with Dan that Steve Winwood emerges as the most together guy in this matchup. Clapton hadn't really found his singing or songwriting voice yet, and Ginger Baker, though a fairly decent songwriter in my opinion, chose to use his space for a proto-"In a Gadda da Vida" solo extravaganza. That left Rick Grech, the "who?" guy of the bunch, but in my world he was a key member of a super cool band (Family) that readers should check out when they can. Grech did not contribute any songs to Blind Faith, but his violin playing does shine through occasionally.  

Winwood had it all - not only a prolific songwriter, a great singer and a fine keyboardist, he could also play a mean guitar, which he does on "Had to Cry Today", holding his own in a guitar duel with "God" himself. His "Can't Find My Way Home" has become a popular standard, with recorded cover versions by Yvonne Elliman, Sneaker Pimps, Widespread Panic, Johnny Rivers, Alison Krauss, Styx, Black Label Society, Osage Tribe, Neal Morse, Joe Cocker, and the Swans, among others.

Today, Blind Faith is talked about more for what it wasn't than what it was. No, it didn't change the world, and the album still seems less than the sum of its parts, but we can still be thankful that such a convergence of talents happened at all. It's a well-rounded, compact album starring several talents at the peak of their respective powers. With Ginger Baker now gone, it's unlikely we will ever see Blind Faith II, but it's still funny to imagine what that would sound like now. This kind of thing could only happen in 1969.